It has been six years, Google my business has launched to make it easier for searchers to get the information they need instantly and conveniently. Google My Business (GMB) is one of the essential tools for local business promotion. It is the best way to improve local rankings.
Importance of Google my Business optimization to grow the local business:
Numerous people can discover a business for the first time because of the My Business listing and determine whether to become a customer. So an essential part of your local SEO strategy is to optimize this Google My Business.
Optimizing this local SEO factor, an owner can verify his business that helps to grow local businesses. Google my business optimization, is a cornerstone of inbound marketing success. Remarkably, GMB optimization is a vital part of ‘Local SEO Strategy.’ Surprisingly, 44% of local retailers have not claimed their Google My Business listing, which leads to the possibility of much inaccurate information for users. It takes just a couple of minutes to set up your basic Google My Business listing, but you must customize it carefully to rank. To create a better first impression, start optimizing your GMB.
Complete guidelines to set up “My business” that ranks:
If you want to rank your account, it is essential to provide all the information because it identifies your account as a trusted business center.
Creating a GMB account: First, let me say that if your business is old enough, then it is highly likely that your business is already listed. If it is already registered, you need to claim it, and if not, you need to create a new account.
New GMB Account – To open a new account, you first need to login to your Google Account and go to Google My Business and then you have to provide various information. Information needs to be relevant, reliable, and valid. Those are:
- Name of your business
- Location of your shop on the map
- The delivery area
- Business category
- Contact info (phone number, Email, website)
After that, you will get the verification option. It is very fundamental for you to verify the account because just by confirming, you will get the opportunities to optimize it competently.
Verification Process: If you want to present your business credibly, you must go through this verification process. There are several kinds of verification process. You can follow whatever you think is most accessible. However, there will be no leeway to use some methods for those who have just started a new business. But those who have started a new business must be able to use the first method:
- Postcard- In this process, a postcard will reach your specified location within 14 days. You should not edit your business name, address, or category, or request a new code while you are waiting. Because it can delay the process. After receiving the postcard, you will find a verification code. After that, follow the steps:
- Log in to your GMB.
- Click ‘verify location’ from the menu.
- Enter the code you received.
Once you have entered the code, your business will be verified. Now you can make changes to your business information, share pictures, and write posts and do other updates.
- Phone- Google lets some businesses verify their location by phone. Those who are eligible will be sent a message on their mobile number that will contain a verification code. Submitting that code to their account will end the process.
- Email- This is also applicable to individual businesses. If you are eligible for that, then all you have to do is go to your business account and login to your email id, and after login, go to your inbox, open the Email from Google My Business, and click the verification button in the Email.
- Bulk – There is a possibility to be eligible for this process if you regulate more than 10 locations for the same business and not a service business or agency managing areas for numerous companies.
To complete this process, firstly, click “chain”. Then fill out the verification form with your business name, country or countries where you operate, all contact names, contact phone number, business manager email (someone at the business who can verify you’re a representative of that business), and the email address of your Google Account Manager.
Then after submitting the verification form, it can take up to a week for Google to review and process your claim.
How to claim your GMB account: If your business is already on Google Maps, go to Google Maps. Then search by typing the name of your business. After that, click on your business and select the Claim option, then follow any verification process that you are eligible for.
Optimization: Basically, a classical optimization process can rank your Google My Business. I will basically divide the optimization process into three parts. They are:
- Information – After entering the advanced Information option, try to provide as much information about your business as possible. You should clearly state the areas in which you deliver products and what types of products you deliver, and if there is anything in your business that will attract your customers, such as free Wi-Fi facilities and various discounts, mention them. As anyone can “suggest an edit” to your listing, it is essential to get everything straight from the beginning so that random people do not make their own changes. And it is also important to log into your GMB dashboard and make sure all the details look right. Make sure that your information is updated.
- Photos and videos- By giving attractive and relevant pictures, you can easily attract your customers. The importance of providing quality pictures is immense because businesses with photos see 35% more clicks on their website and 42% higher requests for driving directions in Google Maps.
Now the question is what kind of pictures and videos you will upload.
Photos should be at least 720 pixels wide by 720 pixels high and JPG or PNG files. And the videos should be 30 seconds or shorter, 100 MB or smaller, 720p or higher. Aside from the logo and cover photos, I suggest uploading category-specific pictures and videos. Such as:
- Exterior photos – Capture a snap from each orientation so that it will be simpler for customers to recognize your establishment. You can take a beautiful picture of what your external environment looks like at different times of the day.
- Interior photos – A customer will want to enter a business place with a splendid interior. So, you can take an elegant picture of your beautiful interior. Customers will feel motivated to visit your store if you have an engaging environment inside your store.
- Product Photos: Show the items that are most popular for your business. And one thing you must try to do is make sure that the pictures in your product list are realistic enough and do not look fake.
Reviews: 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase. 93% of local consumers use surveys to determine if a local business is reasonable or horrible.
It is assessed to be the most substantial stride. People trust any company with good reviews and try to shop from there. That is why it is seen that many unscrupulous traders arrange paid surveys to promote their business. But the paid report is not the right solution.
Instead, I would suggest that you encourage your customers to give reviews of your product so that their constructive criticism and appreciation can bring sustainable prosperity. 68% of consumers left local business reviews when they were requested to.
You can follow some ways by which you can ask your customers for reviews:
- Emails
- Social media
- CTA on website
- Thank you pages
And whenever they give you a review, you must give it a genuinely nice answer. That means you need to be conscious about the reviews on your account and respond to them.
Replying to Review: Responding to the favorable reviews should be your preference. Because these customers took time out of their day to give you a helpful response online, show that you are grateful to them for leaving their review.
Another thing you must keep in mind is that if your customers give you negative feedback on your business, you need to respond to them nicely so that they do not get embarrassed. Show your sincerity in improving the service. Your sincere behavior will satisfy your buyer and motivate him to come to you again later.
Google business don’ts:
Google My Business has stringent stratagems covering what is and is not allowed. One misstep and your GMB account could be suspended or closed perpetually.
- Don’t review your own business – There is no way to evaluate your own account, as this can permanently ruin your account. Using this shortcut does not come to the liking of Google at all.
- Don’t review competitors – If you give a negative review of your competitors’ account, it will be considered as black hat SEO, and you can get a massive penalty for it.
- Don’t filter out negative feedback -If you want to get rid of it by using a third-party filter, you may face a massive loss because of this. But if you reply to them, Reevo’s study has discovered that 18% of the reviewers become your loyal customers in the future.
The secret of Ranking: Many businesses have customized their accounts so adequately. Now, if you want to rank your company in this competitive platform, you need to follow some special tips.
- Remarkableness – Your customers will be more attracted if you can present your business in a slightly different way.
Suppose you run a restaurant business. Almost every restaurant upload pictures of restaurant food. If you can present the image of that food fascinatingly and uniquely, you can attract the customer’s attention.
Look at the image. A professional photographer takes this photo of the burger. But this kind of picture is common.
So instead of that, you can upload a picture of a burger that looks more mouth-watering and real. Such as this one:
Not just for photography, but everywhere you need to show something that makes your customers feel different and better than others. Uniqueness can be a crucial factor in ranking your account higher.
Prominence: If you want to have sustainable success, you must create credibility among your buyers. First, try to satisfy your buyers with your product or service and encourage them to give you a useful review, and then you must respond to that review.
By responding to this review, you can build credibility with your buyers and gain the trust of potential buyers. You also must ensure that you have given all your business information in detail so that Google can consider your account as a valid and prominent account. Serving as a portfolio of your business, it also enhances the trust factor in your customers. Prominence is a bit of a tiebreaker and for what your business is famous in the context of this search. External top ten lists and reviews influence this.
Proximity: For proximity, the question truly is, “Is your business the most trusted store near the user’s location?” Proximity is what defines the local algorithm. Google uses the location of the person, doing the searching, to determine the results in search. Site is an integral part of Google’s algorithm that your business will come first when people search for places in your delivery area. So, when you specify your directions, make sure that your delivery area is mentioned so that you can easily find your target customers. Whether or not your business name appears in search engine results is highly dependent on your delivery area.
End Note
Basically, local SEO buildup must take care of so many things like giving the right quality products, locally optimized content, backlinks, etc.
But this method of local SEO optimization, Google My business is a straightforward and active initiative.
People use these listings to get to learn who you are, skim reviews and reach you, all without potentially ever going to your website. You should claim, verify, and optimize your listing to convert new conceivable clients into actual clients.
Doing this will help you in laying a tremendous foundation for your local SEO.
Author Bio: Maqsood Rahman
SEO Audit Agency, an SEO Industry Leader in Bangladesh, is founded by Mr. Maqsood, who has a total of 15 years’ experience in the SEO Industry (12 years in NYC and 3 years in BD). He is highly dedicated to help companies develop their Digital Marketing strategies.
He is also the mastermind behind SEO Audit Software, one of the best open source & white label SEO tools for agencies with a 14 day free trial version.
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